EDMONTON — Upon arrival in the City of Champions, Charleston Hughes threw down the proverbial gauntlet in the 2014 edition of the Battle of Alberta.

Questioning hygiene habits — on a personal or collective basis — has a way of raising the ire of the intended receiver.

“Downtown Edmonton look like it need a bath with hot soapy water,” the Calgary Stampeders defensive end wrote on Twitter. “Or at least a rinse off.”

In a game with intensity rarely witnessed prior to Labour Day — and we’re not talking about the hysteria over the 50-50 jackpot of $348,924 — the Stampeders extended their winning streak to nine straight over their provincial rivals with a 26-22 victory witnessed by a soggy crowd of 40,066 at Commonwealth Stadium.

“It was a freaking very good win against a very good freaking team,” Hughes said. “You know what? We’ve got to see them two more times in a month or so. So that was a pre-game to the Labour Day Classic.”

Aaron Grymes of the Edmonton Eskimos is stopped from making the catch by Joe West of the Calgary Stampeders during a CFL game at Commonwealth Stadium on July 24, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

With the win, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell ties former Stampeder quarterback Jeff Garcia for the most victories (seven) to start a CFL career.

“It’s not a record people even keep,” Mitchell said, brushing off the fuss over matching his mentor.

In customary fashion, Hughes looked about to run out of oxygen from yapping all night long at the Edmonton offence, and Calgary emerged with bragging rights.

“I always keep enough oxygen to talk to the people lined up across from me,” Hughes said. “I went against Tony Washington the whole game, so why wouldn’t I talk to him?”

But the win came with a cost, as usual for the Stamps. Tailback Matt Walter left the game in the first quarter after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Edmonton linebacker Rennie Curran. Starting right guard Brander Craighead left the game in the fourth quarter on the back of a golf cart.

Starting tailback Jon Cornish is already on the six-game injured list with a concussion. Now his caddy is dealing with the after-effects of a blow to the head.

Stamps head coach/general manager John Hufnagel must wonder what he did in a previous life to experience such calamity on a weekly basis.

“Man, it was a tough one,” said Mitchell, who went 14-of-29 for 124 yards and a touchdown in a winning cause. “We had a lot of guys go down. Guys stepped up and played well. Guys made some big plays.”

In the first quarter, Calgary’s offence failed to generate a single first down, never mind a big play, but the Stampeders still emerged with a 10-3 lead thanks to Edmonton turnovers.

Jamal Miles of the Edmonton Eskimos runs with the ball past Simon Charbonneau-Campeau of the Calgary Stampeders during a CFL game at Commonwealth Stadium on July 24, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

The first, a bobbled punt by Jamal Miles, led to a 36-yard field goal by Rene Paredes. The second came on special teams as Calgary’s Keenan MacDougall bulled up the middle and blocked a Grant Shaw punt. MacDougall keenly scooped up the ball and ran seven yards for the second touchdown of his career.

The Stamps finally registered a first down five minutes into the second quarter on 12-yard run by Jock Sanders. But in reality, Calgary had no answer for the punishing Edmonton defence.

Still, the Eskimos kept giving. Fred Bennett intercepted a Mike Reilly pass to set up a Calgary field goal.

With 26 seconds left in the first half and the Eskimos punting from their own end zone, head coach Chris Jones mysteriously called a fake. Shaw pitched the ball to Aaron Grymes, and the Edmonton cornerback just failed to reach the first-down marker.

Calgary once again made the Esks pay for that blunder. Mitchell tossed a 16-yard touchdown strike to Jeff Fuller to give the Stamps a 20-13 lead heading to the dressing room.

The Stamps committed a faux pas of their own in the third quarter when Drew Tate failed to convert a third-down gamble. That led to Reilly executing a convincing double pump-fake and finding a wide-open Shamawd Chambers streaking down the sideline for a 32-yard touchdown.

Paredes booted two more field goals and Calgary conceded a two-point safety with 44 seconds on the clock, but the Stamps held on for the win.

“The whole Twitter thing? I was just being honest,” Hughes said. “I thought everybody would get a laugh out of it. I just stated the obvious. It kinds of looks similar to Detroit where everything looks like it needs to be rinsed off.”

The 4-0 Stamps return home to prepare for a Friday date with the B.C. Lions.